Autumn Leaf Suncatchers

We are slightly obsessed with suncatchers in this house. I’ve shared our cute pumpkin suncatchers before but we’ve actually made loads more that *gasp* didn’t make it online just because I thought it might be overkill! I couldn’t help but share these sweet autumn leaf suncatchers though, both my kids loved making them and it was a great way to sit down and chat about the changing seasons with them.

To make these Autumn leaf suncatchers you will need:

Lets make it:

This is a post I originally shared a couple of years ago but with the weather being so autumnal at the moment (what happened to summer?!) I thought I’d share it again as it was so popular with my kids and I’ve added a little video to show how easy they are to make and if you scroll to the bottom you can see a little preview of our round up of 15 autumn suncatchers kids can make.

Now, normally at this point I talk about the importance of prepping your activity before your child gets started. Well, that totally didn’t happen today! I managed to cut out two templates in advance but as soon as I suggested this activity both of my kids were desperate to get involved so I was cutting, sticking down contact paper and trying to keep the peace at 100 miles an hour. More stressful than normal? Totally! It was good to know that they both really wanted to make these though!

The first thing to do is to cut out some leaf shapes from coloured card. Keep it as simple as possible and allow about a 1cm border round the edges. Contact paper can be tricky to work with just because it’s so darn sticky! To keep it in place I start by washi taping two corners to the floor or table and then removing the covering paper and sticking the other corners down. As my youngest is only one I stuck down more of the sides for her as she loves contact paper and is liable just to tear it all up.

Want to see how it’s done? I’ve made a little video of how to make these (don’t worry it’s all speeded up so will only take you a minute to watch!) The autumn leaf suncatchers in this post were all made by my kids but in the video I’ve done a super quick and easy version so you can see how easy these are to do!

Place your leaf shapes carefully down on the contact paper and then let your kids fill the insides of the shape with the coloured cellophane. You can cut the cellophane into shapes yourself or invite them to cut it up depending on their age. I really recommend coloured cellophane rather than tissue paper because the colours you will get are so much brighter and if you are practising scissor skills then it’s also really easy to cut as well. It doesn’t matter if the cellophane goes outside of the shapes (making this a great activity for toddlers too) and likewise it’s fine if the colours get piled on top of each other – I think the colour change it makes make them look even more autumnal, plus it gives you the chance to discuss how different colours are make – what happens if you put a bit of red cellophane and a yellow bit together? This is my one year old’s leaf, she loved just sticking on the biggest bits she could find!

One you are finished, seal them by placing another bit of contact paper on top and then cut your autumn leaf suncatchers out. Using a needle and thread make a hole in the top and then tie a knot so that you can hang them up! I love that this craft is good fun without getting the whole house covered in paint! If you like mess free activities for kids then make sure you check out our mess free autumn tree craft too!